


What You Will

by Shachaai



Category: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: AU - Modern Setting, Acting, Crossdressing, M/M, Other, Shakespeare, Threesome - M/M/M, Twincest
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-09-16
Updated: 2010-10-26
Packaged: 2017-10-11 21:42:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 15,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/117418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shachaai/pseuds/Shachaai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>As any actor knows there's a fine line between a good act and an outright lie - and sometimes, when walking it, it's not just the audience who gets taken in.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Act I, Scene i.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ArchangelUnmei](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArchangelUnmei/gifts).



> A gift for my dear SJ, who wanted Fai and Yuui playing as actors Viola and Sebastian in Shakespeare's _Twelfth Night_ (also known as _What You Will_ ). Where Kurogane fell into the entire mess was entirely up to me, and so - KFY. >3
> 
> Fai and Yuui go by their widely-assumed Horitsuba incarnations in this - Fai, as the chem. teacher, and adult mage of TRC. Yuui, as the home ec. teacher, and the TRC twin left behind.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Fai)**  
FAI D. FLUORITE – the protagonist, an actor, who often takes the women's roles. Currently Viola  
YUUI FLUORITE – the protagonist's twin (therefore also a protagonist), an actor. Currently Sebastian   
KAREN KASUMI – director of the theatre troupe, and refuser of many dates  
HOKUTO SUMERAGI – dressmaker no. one to the theatre troupe, Subaru's twin, very cute girl  
SUBARU SUMERAGI – Hokuto's twin, an actor, takes women's roles due to age. Currently Olivia   
TOMOYO DAIDOUJI – dressmaker no. two to the theatre troupe, very cute girl, dotes on Sakura  
ASHURA OU – old friend of the Fluorite twins, an actor. Currently Duke Orsino   
KYLE RONDART – attempted thwarter of many plots, an actor. Currently Malvolio  
YUUTO KIGAI – attempted seducer of many, receiver of death-threats, an actor. Currently Antonio  
KAMUI SHIRO – grumpy youth, an actor, takes women's roles due to age. Currently Maria  
YUUKO ICHIHARA – good friend, provider of alcohol and moral support, possible witch  
KOHAKU TENOUJI – good singer, if unsure, tormented by 'friend' Koryuu, an actor. Currently Feste  
KORYUU 'JIKOKU' – grumpy youth, stalker of ~~crush~~ friend Kohaku, an actor. Currently Sir Andrew  
SYAORAN LI – loyal friend, determined youth, sort-of-boyfriend to Sakura, an actor. Currently Curio  
SAKURA KINOMOTO – helper of the troupe, a good friend, doted on by many  
SORATA ARISUGAWA – enthusiastic friend, an actor. Currently Sir Toby   
YOUOU KUROGANE – currently a stranger, but only ever himself  
EVERYONE ELSE – not important enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 

 ** _I. i._** [ _Backstage at a theatre one afternoon – rehearsals are taking place on the main stage and among the stalls; behind the curtain is its usual organised pandemonium. People are everywhere._ ]

Karen Kasumi, director to a Shakespearian theatre group of misfits, was a woman on a mission. Everyone she passed by backstage acknowledged the determined look in her eye and quickly got out of her way, letting her stride through the troupe looking for her targets. She had just finished watching the stage out front; taking Kohaku through the scene following on from one of his songs yet _again_ (the youth was the sweetest singer of the group and landed the appropriate roles as a result – even _if_ he needed a lot of coaxing to take on the sterner aspects of those roles as well ~~things would probably be a lot easier if she could let the women of the troupe act – but no, they stuck to the original acting rules, and all men it was~~ ), and now she had some things to run through with her protagonist and his twin – if she could _find_ the elusive two.

Eventually, she spotted the main of the pair, tucked away in a quiet corner and standing on a box with the troupe's two dressmakers, Tomoyo and Hokuto, working diligently on either side of him, fixing some minute details on his second costume – a rather gorgeous blue dress. (If it weren't explicitly designed for someone without a chest, the director might've asked to borrow it.)

"Karen~," Fai looked pleased to see the director as she swept over to them – he'd been trying to make conversation with the two girls attending him, but they currently both had pins in their mouths and the talk had been getting a little one-sided.

Karen nodded to him – and shifted a few steps to the side when Tomoyo made a flicking hand-motion her way. (The members of the troupe were all well-accustomed to the dressmakers' non-verbal ways of letting people know they were blocking important light. It was a long-acknowledged fact that it was best to take heed of the signs _before_ either Tomoyo or Hokuto decided to get verbal.)

"Syaoran just mentioned that you and your brother had offered to host the opening night party this time around." It was a tradition that they all went back to one of the troupe's member's homes for a giant party on any given opening night for one of their plays, with their invited guests along.

"That's right," Fai smiled. "Since we haven't hosted one for a while."

"You'll have to pass around your address."

"Either Yuui or I'll email it to everyone…" Fai trailed off, looking down as Hokuto deftly stuck a series of rather sharp-looking pins into his costume, somehow managing to avoid jabbing the blond actor in the leg. "Probably Yuui, as he's better at giving directions."

Karen wasn't going to deny _that_. (Fai's ineptitude at describing places and objects was well-known. ~~'It's sort of _wiggly_ -shaped, and tilts to the left quite a lot, so when you see that you should go right for a bit, and –'~~) "Where _is_ your brother?"

The reply was prompt. "Being hit-on by his Antonio in our dressing-room."

"Again?"

"Well," Fai said reflectively, "Yuuto-san's already propositioned everyone in a skirt -"

"Except Subaru," Hokuto interrupted assertively, taking the last pin from her mouth and using it to tack a piece of cloth in place on Fai's dress.

"- _Really_?" Fai broke off, effectively diverted, glancing down at the girl as Hokuto began sorting through her needles. "I would've thought Subaru-kun would've been one of the first."

Tomoyo, working on some seams on Fai's other side, cheerfully supplied the answer. "She threatened to castrate Yuuto-san if he tried it."

"With a dull spoon," Hokuto acknowledged.

"Crazy girl," Koryuu muttered as he went past, meeting twin glares from the dressmakers in response, and a rather cool glance from Karen.

"Shouldn't you be on stage?" Koryuu quickly left.

"Hokuto-chan, have no fear!" Tomoyo resumed, as if the interruption had never taken place. "Subaru-kun will have his spring wedding yet!"

"I shall valiantly continue to defend Subaru's maiden heart so that he can be Sei-kun's beautiful bride!" Hokuto fixed a look of utter determination on her face. (Fai and Karen wisely refrained from mentioning that, from what _they_ knew of Seishirou, Seishirou himself would probably volunteer to be the one donning the veil – but only after Subaru had died of far too much blood rushing to his face.)

Karen changed the subject, speaking to the two girls. "How long until you're done here?"

"If Fai stops wriggling," Tomoyo replied (at which point Fai immediately stopped 'wriggling' – he'd been shifting around on his box to try and get a better view of the people rushing around backstage, trying to see if he could spot Subaru and tease the boy himself), "about another quarter of an hour."

Karen turned back to Fai. "I want you up front as soon as you're finished here – you can run-through some of your earlier scenes with Ashura."

Fai saluted. Tomoyo sighed up at him. "Don't _wriggle_."

Fai – sheepishly – dropped the hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- In Shakesperian England, women were forbidden from acting. Sticking to the original casting ideals then, even in the modern age, would require an all-male cast - and so young boys, thin and tall and with their voices still unbroken, made the perfect women. Men who maintained fairly mellow voices into maturity, as well as svelte enough figures and a willingness to don a dress depite their age, would also be high in demand.


	2. Act I, Scene ii.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Kurogane)**  
YOUOU KUROGANE – the protagonist, much put-upon guy of the world, new in town, himself  
YUUKO ICHIHARA – batshit insane landlady to be avoided at all costs  
KIMIHIRO WATANUKI – skivvy to the above, possible relation too, flails a lot  
SOUMA HIME – doorwoman in the complex foyer  
FAI FLUORITE – unknown entity, apparently a neighbour, owner of a twin  
YUUI FLUORITE – unknown entity, apparently a neighbour, owner of a twin  
SATSUKI YATOUJI – unknown entity, apparently a neighbour  
EVERYONE ELSE – not important enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 

 **I. _ii._** [ _Hours after the scene before. Interior of a mirror-lined elevator, the doors just closing on a foyer drenched in an autumn sunset as it begins its ascent. The one button lit on the panel marks the sole occupant as heading for the top floor._ ]

Kurogane sighed as he leaned back against the elevator's walls, ignoring and closing his eyes to his own baleful reflection looking back at him from the mirror on the wall opposite, letting his bags of shopping rest by his feet. Three days – exactly _three_ days (save one hour, two minutes and thirty-six seconds) – in his new home and Kurogane already wanted to move again.

It'd seemed a good enough place to start with – his apartment was spacious, comfy, the rent was low enough and most of the furniture was already provided for. The doorwoman downstairs wasn't a temperamental bastard like the guy who'd handled the last place Kurogane'd lived in; from what Kurogane had seen of the woman – Souma was her name - she was polite, concise, and knew just when to offer information and when to keep her mouth shut. She'd given Kurogane the rundown when he'd arrived – the basic rules of the complex, the basic rules of Kurogane's landlady, Ichihara-san (Souma often ended up taking messages from the other woman for Ichihara-san's tenants – Yuuko kept _odd_ hours), and a quick introduction to the layout and the people of the building.

There were eight floors in the building (ground floor being the exception), with four apartments to each floor. Two of the apartments on the top floor were occupied, with Kurogane taking a third, but only Kurogane's apartment and the empty place belonged to Yuuko for renting. His neighbours were usually considered some of the better ones to have – Yatouji-san was a programmer, and often stayed late at her place of work further downtown. When she came home, she was quiet. The Fluorite twins, taking the apartment next door to Kurogane, were away from home for a chunk of the year more often than not – they were actors, and travelled with their troupe. They could be a _little_ noisy when they came home, but otherwise their rooms were silent. There were two spacious and working lifts in the building, and connecting stairs to all floors. Cleaners maintained the state of the lifts, hallways and foyer; fire alarm checks were bi-annual. These were all good, practical things.

Yuuko Ichihara was neither 'good' nor 'practical.' She had pounced on Kurogane within the first two hours of her tenant's arrival in his new home, stalking into the man's house the moment he'd opened the door - a complaining youth wearing glasses on her heels, who was busy detailing all the ways his 'aunt' made his life not worth living, and how this was _abuse_ and _neglect_ and _Yuuko wasn't even listening, was she?_

Both 'Yuuko' and Kurogane ignored the kid – Yuuko, it seemed, out of a force of habit, and Kurogane because he was too distracted by the woman – _witch_! – plonking herself imperiously on his couch and demanding alcohol. Before she'd even introduced herself.

Kurogane had, naturally, exploded, and all-in-all, it had been a memorable first meeting - if one Kurogane had henceforth reserved to only ever be thought about again in his darkest nightmares. Actually, most things about his landlady were consigned to that place; he was deeply grateful he could pass messages onto the evil, _insane_ woman through Souma, and not have to hunt out Yuuko himself.

The elevator _pinged_ , reaching the top floor, and the doors slid open. Kurogane bent down, picking up his bags and striding forwards before even properly looking in front of him, and ended up colliding with the person coming in to the elevator as a result. Since Kurogane was, inheritably, built like a large rock ~~people who knew him occasionally joked he had a personality like one too~~ , it was the stranger who went stumbling back at the collision, stamping _her_ heel down at an odd angle and getting it caught in the groove in the floor where the doors opened. _She_ cursed (Kurogane took in butterfly hairclips, make-up and a fluttering skirt in a half-glance); Kurogane cursed, and they both bent down to try and yank the suffering heel out of the place it was caught, and whacked their heads together. Naturally, they both cursed some more.

 _Eventually_ they both ended up on the other side of the door, outside the elevator, with Kurogane's shopping, one bag to each of them, one heel successfully rescued and two heads equally hurting.

"Ow," said Kurogane's assailant belatedly, pressing her free hand to her head. She held out Kurogane's shopping for the man to take when he looked at her, and pouted rather melodramatically. Lipstick gleamed. "What are you made of – _steel?"_

Kurogane decided not to point out that the woman before him had rammed _him_ just as hard, and manfully changed the subject. "…Yatouji-san?" His tone was doubtful; the woman before him didn't _look_ like a programmer – he didn't really know what programmers looked like exactly, but he'd been somehow expecting more… _professional_ clothes, and not clothes that were so – was it really necessary to make everything so _glittery?_ She was practically leaving a trail of sparkles in her wake.

" _Huh_? Oh – no -" confusion faded to a smile, and Kurogane's companion dropped the hand from her head, extending it to Kurogane to shake. "Fluorite. Fai D. Fluorite. You're our new neighbour?"

"Kurogane," Kurogane responded, not offering his forename, and tried not to grimace when he ended up with glitter on his hand as a result of taking Fai's hand in his own.

Fai's smile only brightened – almost blindingly so – and if she noticed Kurogane trying to shake his hand to rid it of sparkles after she let him go she never mentioned it. Maybe she was too distracted by her own headache.

The headaches were going to be a regular thing for them.


	3. Act I, Scene iii.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Yuui)**  
YUUI FLUORITE – the weary protagonist/sidekick apparent, a twin, an actor. Currently Sebastian   
FAI 'D.' FLUORITE – probable protagonist/sidekick apparent, a twin, an actor. Currently Viola  
ASHURA OU – good friend of the Fluorite twins, adviser, an actor. Currently Duke Orsino   
KAREN KASUMI – devoted director of the theatre troupe  
YUUKO ICHIHARA – friend, beginner of strange adventures, purveyor of promises, witch  
KIMIHIRO WATANUKI – reluctant nephew of Yuuko, intelligent, occasional student of Yuui  
YUUTO KIGAI – sincere only in insincerity, an actor. Currently Antonio  
SAKURA KINOMOTO – helper of the troupe, a good friend, occasional student of Yuui, sweet girl  
SYAORAN LI – determined boy, intelligent, sort-of-boyfriend to Sakura, an actor. Currently Curio  
TOMOYO DAIDOUJI – one dressmaker of the theatre troupe, plays dress-up with Sakura and Fai  
SATSUKI YATOUJI – neighbour, rarely seen, stoic but dependable  
YOUOU KUROGANE – currently a stranger, the new neighbour, himself  
EVERYONE ELSE – currently not relevant enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 **I. _iii._** [ _A well-lit living-room, relatively tidy, though the coffee table is strewn with the obvious leftovers of a delivery of Chinese food, and between the boxes stand a few bottles – vodka, and a few mixers with it – the results evident in the tall glasses being nursed by the two men slouched out on the room's couch, one of the men with an open script across his lap. The curtains at the window remain undrawn to the night outside, the streetlights shining in._ ]

Fai was late. That in itself was nothing truly startling – Fai made a statement out of being fashionably late – but he was usually punctual when he knew there was alcohol on offer. And yet…it was almost three hours after Yuui had arrived at Ashura's home to run through lines with the other man (his character, Sebastian, shared only one scene with Ashura's Duke in the play, _Twelfth Night_ , but the troupe were all stand-ins to each other, and it was nothing to read another's lines to help someone practice), to have something to eat and drink with their friend, two hours after Fai had said he'd be arriving to do the same – and yet, Fai wasn't there.

And, somehow, they were one bottle of vodka down.

"…Did we drink all that?" Yuui found himself focusing on the almost-empty bottle on the coffee table, nudging aside the empty cartons of Chinese to pluck it up (not all-too-steadily) and dangle for Ashura, seated beside him on the couch, to see as well. "I'm sure we didn't drink all this."

Ashura gave the vodka a cursory glance and then let his head loll back onto the cushions behind it, looking up at the ceiling above. ~~His hair fanned out in a rather elegant motion, black against the couch covers, and Yuui had a momentary not-quite-sober stab of not-quite-envy at the movement – both he and his brother were growing their hair out for their roles, and could never get it to do what they wanted.~~ The streetlights – not to mention the lights from the shops over the road – shining in from outside splashed it with specks of colour, all red and blue and green. "I am quite sure I did not give any to my plants."

"…Vodka's bad for plants." Yuui frowned, contemplative, but set the bottle down in its home once more with a decisive _thunk_. "I think."

"Vodka's bad for most things," Ashura told him, smiling wryly when his companion glanced his way. The play's script lay forgotten on his lap. "Including livers." He took another sip from the liquid in his glass regardless of the statement, and then knocked back what was left.

"Tastes good with cooked liver though," Yuui added, considering his own drink. "Red wine does, anyway. It makes a nice sauce."

…It was a tremendously good thing rehearsing lines had really been an afterthought for the evening.

The doorbell went, and Ashura rose to answer it, leaving the room for a few minutes. There was a bright flurry of noise from the hallway shortly after he left that Yuui found exceedingly familiar – and so Yuui was perfectly unsurprised when Ashura came back into the room shortly afterwards, a somewhat glittery figure striding along at his side. Dressed in a skirt. And heels. And with a rather fancy handbag over one shoulder that Yuui had the sneaking suspicion was of Tomoyo's design.

He raised his glass to his brother, the prodigal son, a laconic toast. "But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun -"

Fai neatly relieved his twin of his drink, and downed it in a smooth swallow. Yuui's attempt at a soliloquy drew to a somewhat exasperated and perfectly abrupt halt, and Fai grinned. "Portia, yes," he said, referring to the last Shakespeare play the troupe had taken on, "Juliet no."

"Only because you quite vocally protested the troupe taking on a tragedy, child." Ashura, in turn, took the empty glass from Fai, and bent to began clearing up the mess left on his coffee table. (The pet name for Fai had been a one long in usage – the twins were younger than Ashura by a good few years.) "And now you are too old for the role."

"I could play Romeo still," Fai suggested, off-hand, and kicked off his shoes to curl up beside Yuui on the couch, laying his head on his brother's shoulder. Yuui raised one arm, wrapping it loosely around him.

"You're certainly a bad enough timekeeper…" Slim fingers taking hold of his chin coaxed Yuui into glancing at Fai, Ashura already out of the room, sorting things out in the kitchen judging by the sounds he was making. Fai shifted at his twin's side, smiling and leaning closer, but Yuui pulled back, sober enough to acknowledge his brother's make-up. "…Not when you're wearing lipstick."

Fai pouted, foiled – but acquiesced, settling again, and changed the subject. "I met our new neighbour."

"Oh?"

"I think he thought I was a girl."

"Well," and this was a practical response, "you're wearing a skirt. And heels. And make-up."

"I wanted to get into my role more," Fai explained. Yuui tactfully refrained from mentioning the fact that Viola, Fai's character and Sebastian's twin, spent most of _Twelfth Night_ dressed as a man.

"So…" Yuui let his head loll back, mimicking Ashura's motions of before, and regarded the lights on the ceiling. They were starker now, as the night grew ever darker outside. Fai curled in closer to him, a warm, familiar weight. "What's our new neighbour like?"

"Really tall," Fai murmured, wrinkling his nose as he tried to recall the man he'd met. "Rather cute, in a serious sort of way. Hurts like hell to run into." Yuui decided not to ask how his twin had discovered that last point. "He's called Kurogane, and he was -"

What Kurogane was Yuui didn't find out – Ashura came back in then, cutting Fai off mid-flow and carrying another bottle of vodka.

"Alcohol-!"

None of them practiced their lines that night, and none of them left the room sober.

"…Fai," Yuui said later – _much_ later – sometime after he'd stopped thinking straight but just before the point of oblivion, "that – that _guy_ -"

Fai blinked up at him, half-dangling over the edge of the couch and with his skirt hitched up somewhere above his thighs. "…Mm?"

"…Th'neighbour guy -"

"…Mm?" Fai repeated and rolled over slightly – if he went any further he was going to end up on the floor.

"D'you tell him y' _weren't_ a girl?"

There was a long pause.

"…No?" Fai finally offered at last, though it sounded more like a wild guess than an actual recollection.

"…'Kay," Yuui replied, and flopped back himself.

In the morning he'd remember the conversation, and he'd groan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- The character of Sebastian in _Twelfth Night_ is Viola's twin brother - and when Viola dresses herself to look like a man, she and her brother are practically identical, if the reactions of other characters towards them are anything to go by. Sebastian has his share of fun (and fights) on-stage - but Viola is very much the leading lady.
> 
> \- _'But soft! What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun...'_ : a quote from Romeo's speech to Juliet's beauty, taken from _Romeo and Juliet_ , act II, scene ii, at the start of the infamous balcony scene.
> 
> \- _'"Portia, yes......Juliet no.'_ : Portia, from _The Merchant of Venice_. She was renowned for her beauty, in particular her golden hair (and golden wealth!). It seemed like an apt previous role for Fai to have taken on; Portia, like _Twelfth Night_ 's Viola, dresses as a man at one point, and fools her husband with her disguise.


	4. Act I, Scene iv.

**Excerpts from one day's worth of notes addressed to the Director, Karen, from the 'adoring' _Twelfth Night_ cast and crew over which she ~~baby-sits~~ presides (the majority received in the first two hours of the day):**   
_\- Karen-chan~ we're going to need some more of that gold thread before lunch-time; my darling Subaru's dress used up a lot more of it than we thought it would. I'd ask Syaoran-kun to ask Sakura-chan to go for us, but he seems to be avoiding me…… [sigh] I think he's picking up terrible habits from Kamui-kun._

\- Miss. Kasumi, I feel it is necessary to inform you that some of the cast are drinking _again, and I, for one, will not……_

\- Karen-san, is there any possibility of an extended break at lunch? I'm sorry to ask such a thing, but Sakura isn't feeling very well today, and I think she's by herself at home……

\- ……Would somebody tell Kyle that there isn't any alcohol hidden in the Wardrobe? He's making a mess out of it, and there is no _way I'm cleaning it all up again, especially when that pimpish oaf's loafing around……_

\- ……and she's sick. _Syaoran-kun just said. So I'm going to take a longer break at lunch to go check on her with Syaoran-kun, and I'll pick up the gold thread we need on the trip. – Tomoyo_

\- Karen-san, I'm sorry to trouble you, only young Koryuu keeps complaining about the Wardrobe department and it's beginning to get on everyone's nerves…… Kyle isn't helping. – AO.

\- ……can't you keep that needle-happy dressmaker under control? _The performance date is a while off; there's really no need for her to be attacking people with frills at every hour of every day……_

\- ……So are we having a long lunch break today? Only my honey will……

\- Do you have any paracetamol? – F. x  


* * *

 

 **Experto Crede – Believe One Who Has Experience**  
Turning up to a full day's rehearsal with a hangover is an extremely bad idea. People _will_ point and laugh at you, right after they've done scolding you for a) getting into that state in the first place, and b) being late.  


* * *

 

 **I. _iv._** [ _The theatre again, this time in the late morning, and out on the stage. People mill here and there, and a few seem to have taken up positions in the seats in the stalls to have a conversation, while a few perform nothing but their entries and exits to the stage again and again for the critical view of their director. One youth is singing in the orchestra's pit, trying not to squeak as another, darker, youth glares at him, and over by the stage stairs two young mean are standing, one with his head pressed to the cool wall._ ]

"I hate you," Fai told his brother flatly, and at least partially meant it.

Yuui wasn't particularly bothered, flicking through an amended rehearsal schedule Karen had passed out that morning. They'd come straight from Ashura's that morning, still wearing their clothes of the night before (the cast didn't so much as _blink_ at Fai turning up in a skirt, though Koryuu did favour the outfit with a pronounced eye-roll), and grabbing the spare pair they'd taken to leaving in their locker in the dressing room. "Of course."

"I _really_ hate you."

"Mmhm."

"How come _you_ don't have a headache? You drank too!"

" _I_ wasn't the one that rolled straight off the couch this morning and clonked my head off the floor." Yuui glanced up when Fai let out a semi-aggrieved _huff_ of breath at the comment, Fai still refusing to raise his throbbing head from where he'd rested it against the wall. Apparently, according to the sulky pronouncement the elder twin had made only half an hour earlier, the wall was his only friend that morning. "You bounced rather spectacularly."

"You're a horrible brother."

"I offered you a hug afterwards."

Fai made a face. "Knowing full well we were already late so you didn't have time to give me one."

"If you hadn't spent so long complaining about having to get up off the floor," Yuui added, his lips beginning to quirk up into a smile, "we probably wouldn't have been late."

"A horrible, _horrible_ brother," Fai repeated petulantly, but consented to be tugged away from the wall at last by one hand, drawn into a warm hug. He was smiling – slightly, but still smiling - when he finally stepped back. "You know," he said airily, "hugs are nice, but I've heard it's a _kiss_ that makes it all better."

"Horrible brothers don't offer that sort of medicine," Yuui replied, snorting when Fai pouted, once more, at the statement, and handing his brother the rehearsal schedule. "Especially not when they and their dear brother should both be busy doing something else."

"Oh?" Fai asked, only giving the papers in his hand a quick glance. "What -" Yuui nodded his head at something behind Fai's shoulder and Fai turned, fixing a smile on his face when he spotted their lovely director standing there tapping one foot. She'd already scolded them both – and Ashura – for their tardiness that day. "Karen-chan~." There was a long pause. Nobody said anything. "…I'm supposed to be having another dress fitting right now, aren't I."

Karen looked at him. "Tomoyo-chan was expecting you ten minutes ago."

"…Ah." Another pause. "I'd best go see her now then, shouldn't I?" Fai didn't stay long enough to hear Karen give a response.

The director switched her attentions to Yuui.

"I'm gone as well," the blond promised her, and disappeared backstage to find someone to practice with. Karen was mild only to a point – and there probably weren't enough kisses in the world to deal with her wrath should she reach the breaking point. The path of caution was well-advised.


	5. Act I, Scene v.

**Excerpt from a note left from one Fluorite twin to another, at the theatre:**   
_......I'll stop by the supermarket on the way home and get the eggs, so you needn't head that way anymore. Give me a ring as soon as you're finished for the day, so I can be sure the dinner's ready for when you come in, alright?  
I hope your head's feeling better……_   


* * *

 

 **Caveat Lector – Let The Reader Beware**  
The thing about identical twins…or even just siblings who look very similar to one another…it can be very easy to mix them up.   


* * *

 

 **I. _v._** [ _Late afternoon, the top floor of an apartment complex. It's quiet, though if someone were to listen carefully they could here someone else depositing their waste in the disposal bins at the far end of the hallway – and then one elevator_ 'dings,' _reaching the top floor, the doors sliding open and a tired man stepping out._ ]

Kurogane still wondered, sometimes, quite a few times, _always_ when he'd had a long, tiring day and certain brats had made him snap at them, what he was doing training to be a teacher. Kids were brats. Impudent, godforsaken little runts, most of them, who sat around all day complaining and expected health and entertainment to be served up to them on a silver plate, whining all the more when it became apparent that yes, they were in school, and so they were actually expected to _do_ something.

Kurogane was not – and never would be – a 'people person,' but still he stuck at his training despite others' misgivings, despite his own flickering doubts and – and it _made sense,_ somehow, at the end, and he was glad he was doing what he did, for the good that it did, even if he did have days where he wanted to _throttle_ half of the student body he was currently working with for winding him up.

Sort of like the day Kurogane had just had. ~~He'd managed to coax himself down into only wanting to choke a _quarter_ of the students, which was a distinct improvement on half.~~ He sighed as he stepped out of the elevator, running a hand back through his spiky hair to get a strand out of his eyes and digging in his back pocket for the keys to his apartment.

"…Oh." There was a soft sound from further down the corridor, intruding on Kurogane's internal musings, calling the student teacher away from his thoughts and causing him to glance at the one behind the noise.

It was the woman, the blonde, from the other day – thankfully less glittery than when Kurogane had seen her last. (He'd spent a good ten minutes wiping himself free of sparkles after the first encounter and _still_ found some floating in the air around him later, much to his disgust.) She smiled in welcome as he looked at her, absently rubbing her hands on the worn jeans she was wearing – by the looks of things she'd just come from dumping some of her rubbish in the bins down the hallway.

"Cleaning?" Kurogane offered vaguely, glance sweeping across the rather long, bulky sweater his neighbour had adopted for the day, the way she'd scraped her shoulder-length hair back with a ribbon – and she nodded. It figured – no-one cleaned in their sparkly best.

"I wasn't needed late at the theatre today, so it seemed a good as time as any to get some work done. It's quieter round about now, especially when my brother's still out -, though neither of us can always guarantee what time we'll get home."

The woman – Kurogane was having a hard time trying to dredge up her name from his memory; even if he _had_ only been introduced to her the day before his brain had quickly filed her under 'sparkly idiot' and left it at that – had a rather low voice, higher than Kurogane's own, but still vaguely pleasant to listen to. It probably went with the job description – no-one would really go to see an actor they couldn't stand to hear open their mouth.

"Do you usually get in about this time?"

"Depends," Kurogane shrugged slightly, a little awkward being drawn into a discussion with someone he couldn't even recall the name of – and was probably _expected_ to know the name of. Stupid neighbours. Stupid familiarity. He couldn't even get away with calling the woman 'sparkly idiot' anymore; she wasn't wearing anything that could be construed as the slightest bit glittery. "Some days I have class."

"Class?" Honest curiosity.

"Teacher training." Kurogane didn't elaborate – it wasn't in his nature to, though interest flashed across his companion's face, politely hid behind a smiling expression. There was intelligence behind his neighbour's blue eyes, the woman before him apparently smart enough to guess that to pry any further would turn a friendly conversation into an interrogation.

"You should come over for dinner sometime, Kurogane-san, if you're available to do so." The offer was a mild one, but seemingly genuine. "We'd be glad to have you."

Kurogane's stomach rumbled at the reminder of food – lunch seemed hour ago. "…Yeah," he answered awkwardly, eventually, already planning ahead for what he could grab from his cupboards to eat that night. "Alright." He got another smile for his reply, so he quickly tried to squash it, unused to whatever it was that was making his neighbour go all weird on him. "My food's only just about edible, though – so I'll pay for a meal out sometime then, in return."

The woman's eyes widened. "You needn't -"

"I'll pay," Kurogane interrupted her, set on that point.

Seeing his determination, his neighbour backed down. "…Thank you."

Kurogane shook his head – there was nothing to be thanked for. The motion shifted the keys he was holding in his hand, causing them to jingle, and attracted his companion's attention, jolting her into sudden movement, a few steps towards her own apartment.

She halted again just as suddenly, still half-leaning towards her home, but looking back at Kurogane. "Ah – I'm sorry – it's just…" She made a vague gesture, something distracted, and Kurogane just looked at her, perplexed. She gestured again, a little helplessly. "I left something in the oven."

Kurogane shrugged again – it didn't matter to him -, and his neighbour favoured him with another quick smile before leaving, a brief 'talk to you soon' murmured before her door clicked closed behind her.

Kurogane went to open his own door, and when he slid the key into the lock, the woman's name came back to him – _Fluorite_. Fai. Right.

He opened the door, and went in. He was hungry.


	6. Act II, Scene i.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Fai, version 2)**  
FAI D. FLUORITE – the star, an actor, female lead and good at it, concerned. Currently Viola  
YUUI FLUORITE – an actor, quite vital to the plot. Sebastian – but not currently, as he's sick   
ASHURA OU – old friend of the Fluorite twins, concerned, an actor. Currently Duke Orsino   
YOUOU KUROGANE – grumpy new neighbour, student teacher, cute, tall, paying for dinner  
TOMOYO DAIDOUJI – one dressmaker of the troupe, handles the main bulk of Fai's dresses  
SATSUKI YATOUJI – neighbour, rarely seen, rarely bothered by much, reserved, quiet  
SYAORAN LI – good boy, Sakura's sort-of-boyfriend, an actor. Curio – not currently, as he's sick  
SAKURA KINOMOTO – sweet girl, helper of the troupe, she who gave everyone else her cold  
KAREN KASUMI – director of the theatre troupe, currently prone to headaches – stress  
HOKUTO SUMERAGI – second dressmaker of the troupe, Subaru's twin, cute girl, determined  
SUBARU SUMERAGI – impressionable, cute boy, makes a cute girl, an actor. Currently Olivia   
KOHAKU TENOUJI – good singer, an actor. Feste – but has a sore throat, so can't sing  
YUUKO ICHIHARA – friend, provider of alcohol/moral support, lives in the building, possible witch  
EVERYONE ELSE – nowhere near important enough to get their own marker.  


* * *

 

 **II. _i._** [ _The inside of the Fluorites' apartment, the living room, early evening, almost a fortnight after Kurogane moved in next door. The overhead lights are off but the lamps about the couches are switched on, casting pools of gold down that mix with the flickering light coming from the television. One twin is lying wrapped up in a blanket on the couch, cheeks pink with sickness, the other crouched on the floor at his side all in white and gold, radiating concern._ ]

 

"I'll cancel."

"Don't," Yuui said – croaked, it seemed more like, his voice rough -, ignoring the soft sigh Fai gave at meeting yet another refusal. Even when sick Yuui could be stubborn, clinging to his argument with a tenaciousness most wouldn't expect of him. Yuui was supposed to be the _nice_ one.

"We can postpone it…" Fai softened his own voice as he offered a compromise, running the knuckles of one hand across his brother's cheek, tucking a lock of sweat-damp gold back behind Yuui's ear. He worried, inwardly, about how warm his twin was – Sakura had given most people a _beast_ of a cold to deal with. "Kuro-wankoro may look rather scary, but I'm sure he'd understand."

"'Wankoro'?"

Fai smiled, all innocence. "You don't think he looks like a grumpy puppy?"

Yuui laughed, and Fai smiled wider, pleased to hear the sound – but it tailed off into a cough, and Fai's smile slipped off his face. Wordlessly, he handed his brother a drink of water; Yuui constantly had a bottle of the stuff beside him.

"…I don't think he'd like the nickname." Yuui had only met their neighbour the once – but Fai knew that was enough for Yuui to get a good enough impression, adding to it the stories Fai related back to him. Yuuko talked about her new tenant, when Fai called upon her in her swirl of 'tobacco' smoke (Watanuki had tried vainly to convince them that was all his extravagant aunt put in her pipe); Souma talked about the man on occasion, and Fai himself had 'yoo-hoo'ed out of the window at Kurogane passing by enough times for everyone in the building to identify Kurogane's ~~specially-developed Fai-resistant~~ twitch. They'd never really had another in-depth conversation – they kept schedules that seemed too different for that -, but little glimpses could be telling. Actions spoke louder than words.

Kurogane's actions said a great deal about him. They'd invited him to dinner one night, as Yuui had promised him they would, pushing the invite under his door. Before he'd had a chance to respond though they'd had to push another explanation under cancelling the plans – members of the theatre troupe were coming down sick, and the healthy members ended up having to do more work as a result. (Syaoran had come down ill first, catching Sakura's cold, and then Subaru – though he'd recovered -, then Kohaku, then one after another after another.) Neither Yuui not Fai had had the time to cook and entertain. Kurogane had, then, pushed his own offer under _their_ door – he'd take them both out for dinner, then, if they could spare an hour or two – and they'd agreed, quite happily, and set the date.

And then Yuui had fallen sick. And they'd hoped he'd get better in time, but he hadn't, and they were supposed to go out that evening and Yuui wasn't letting Fai cancel.

"It's a _wonderful_ nickname." Fai protested against his brother's opinion. "I talked to Hokuto-chan about it today – _she_ thought it was cute. Almost as cute as Subaru-kun with his wig on. It's all curly, you know."

A raised eyebrow, amused. "The nickname?"

"The wig." Yuui coughed again, a harsh sound, and Fai sat very determinedly on the floor, not minding he could crease his dress, eying his brother. "I'm not going."

Yuui only looked back at him, resting his head on the couch cushions. "After you got all dressed up?" He really did sound tired.

Fai frowned slightly, idly smoothing a hand out over the cloth on his lap at his brother's reminder. He'd donned a dress again for the night, another one of Tomoyo's creations, white lace and gold thread that twisted down from a high collar to just above his knees. His chest – nothing to speak of, as he hadn't been built with one in mind – was padded slightly behind the gossamer cloth, and his hair hung loose behind his shoulders, still wavy from a braid he'd worn it in earlier in the day. Add to this the usual make-up tricks he'd picked up from a long time working in theatre, and his already particularly androgynous figure, and he – _really_ – looked like a woman. ~~A good-looking one too – he'd been hit-on enough times while in costume to take the hint.~~

Fai…Fai wanted to see his neighbour's reaction to his clothes, to see if Kurogane had figured – or if someone had told him – that Fai wasn't actually a woman. Yuui was under the impression that he'd made it clear enough by implication that they were both male, but Fai wasn't so sure. Yuui forgot, sometimes, that he could have his feminine moments just the same as his brother, and they _were_ identical, so –

Satsuki-chan hadn't cared, when she'd first been introduced to them, that Fai was sometimes as likely to be caught about the building in a dress or skirt as he was in pants. She didn't care about _much_ , it was true, but it meant that she didn't mind, that she didn't differentiate, and she was thus relegated to the status of 'nice neighbour' even though they rarely ever saw her. However, not everyone had such favourable reactions, and if Kurogane was going to be like _that_ –

Wasn't it best to learn, early on, if they could get along? (And, if they couldn't, Fai was going to make sure he had his fun first.)

"I'll be fine," Yuui said, an attempt at being reassuring. "I've been fine here today, haven't I, while you were at the theatre?"

"Yuui -"

There was a knock at the door.

Yuui looked at his brother, and then tilted his head towards the door when Fai made no move to get up. "Go on. Have a good evening."

There was a few moments' pause – and then Fai sighed, for the last time, and rose into a crouch. "If I didn't know any better," he told his twin seriously, "I'd think you were trying to get rid of me."

"Of course," Yuui replied just as solemnly, though Fai could _see_ the twitch of a smile touching his brother's mouth, and mock-glared at it in response. "How else am I going to get the quiet I need to go to sleep?"

Fai snorted, but rose even further, pressing a swift, smooth kiss to Yuui's brow – still too warm – as he stood. "I have my phone with me, if you need me. And Ashura gave me some of that weird cough medicine for you; I left it at the front of the medicine cupboard -"

Another knock at the door.

"Go on," Yuui repeated – and so Fai went, opening the door to the waiting Kurogane, and smiling a perfect Cheshire grin to the young man on the other side, hiding his concern for Yuui behind the gleaming façade as he explained the absence of his twin.

Kurogane was – undoubtedly – going to be in for an interesting evening.


	7. Act II, Scene ii.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Kurogane, version 2)**  
YOUOU KUROGANE – regular guy, student teacher, new to the apartment's building, fed-up  
SOUMA HIME – doorwoman in the complex foyer, keeper of secrets and wearer of more secret smiles  
FAI FLUORITE – neighbour, self-assured, flamboyant woman – still (somehow) better than Yuuko  
YUUI FLUORITE – neighbour, unknown entity, Fai's brother and twin  
EVERYONE ELSE – not important enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 **II. _ii._** [ _Evening still, encroaching onto night, a comfortable restaurant – known for its good food and decent prices, the place is littered with groups dining, couples, groups of friends, one or two families with children eagerly finishing off their desserts. The atmosphere is warm, and the clink of cutlery on china threads through the background murmuring of the diners' conversations.  
Over near a corner one pair of diners sit with their meal – and everyone who's glanced their way this evening has thought them a couple out on a date. Both of them seem to have realised that – the man has developed a strange tic under one eye, and the woman opposite him seems endlessly amused, hiding a smile behind a glass of wine._]

 

"Kuro-chii, I fear I must inform you that you're doing the twitchy thing again."

"How many times do I have to tell you it's _Kurogane?"_

"Once more, Kuro-sama," Fai tilted her glass towards her dinner companion with the same smile she'd been wearing all evening, blithely ignoring the heated glare being directed her way from across the table they were sitting at. If looks could kill the infuriating blonde would be six feet under and going deeper by the second. "Always just once more."

It had become quite clear early on in their excursion – before they'd left the _building_ , in fact – that Fai was, possibly, one of the most irritating people Kurogane had ever had the misfortune to come across – she just hid it better than quite a few others. She'd bounced over to furtively whisper with Souma as soon as they'd reached the foyer, a wide smirk stretching out over the doorwoman's lips as self-satisfaction became equally as evident on Fai's own. Souma had waved them both off still wearing that smirk when the two women were finally done talking, and Fai had remained maddeningly aloof as to what had so amused Souma as they had walked along to the restaurant ~~because Fai had decided they would _walk_ because it was such a _lovely_ evening, and what was the _point_ in wearing a pretty dress if no-one was going to appreciate it? _Kuro-rin_ certainly didn't seem to appreciate it – _his name was_ Kurogane – so they might as well see if anyone else in the wide world out there did. Besides, they could work up an appetite,~~ and cheerfully deflected the topic to random comments as the weather, the surroundings, and once, notably, historically under-appreciated dinosaurs.

Fai was…disturbingly sharp, for one who seemed to like acting like an idiot. She'd smiled airily at everyone and refused to be prised from Kurogane's arm as they'd walked, fluttering her eyelashes and acting the bimbo – before following it all up with a sly smirk and a witty comment, only seen and heard by Kurogane. She'd ordered pasta and wine – ate delicately, drank heavily, and then stole the draught beer Kurogane had ordered for himself to go with his seafood when no-one was looking, and got through half of that too before Kurogane had noticed, yelled, and snatched it back. And then everyone in the restaurant had _stared_ at them, and looked accusingly at Kurogane as Fai sniffed dramatically and dabbed at her eyes with a miraculously-produced handkerchief that was just as lacy as her dress. (Kurogane hadn't even known it was physically _possible_ for one person to carry around that much lace on them.) ~~Bloody actor.~~

They talked as they waited for dessert to come out, both with new drinks, both proving steadfast ~~and quailing~~ livers. About Kurogane's classes, teaching, his part-time job – and why it was Fai seemed so surprised that he worked in a library ~~yes, a _library_ , was the blonde deaf or something?~~ – and the theatre, before Fai had cheerfully delved into the history behind _Twelfth Night_ , Shakespeare and Shakespearian acting in general.

"Women weren't allowed to act then; it was thought unseemly." There was something flickering behind the rather wry smile Fai had donned to give her history lesson – and it was unsettling, the dissonance between the light tones she was speaking with, the look of her smile and the look in her eyes. "It's good that times have changed."

"Can't see that many guys wanting to play the girl, anyway." Fai's expression _twitched_ – but when Kurogane made an enquiring noise she just looked up at him, a blank smile fixed in place on her expression. Kurogane snorted, unimpressed. "You're the strangest actor I've ever heard of."

"Oh?" Neutral.

Kurogane nodded, short. "You don't like people looking at you."

There was a long pause. Kurogane didn't think Fai was going to reply – but then she eventually set down her glass, and looked at him from under her lashes, still carefully passive. "…I can see you're going to make a wretchedly good teacher."

Kurogane opened his mouth to reply – but the waiter arrived then, carrying Fai's chocolate cake and Kurogane's fruit salad ~~Fai had nagged until he'd ordered _something_~~ , and the conversation was lost.


	8. Act II, Scene iii.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Yuui, version 2)**  
YUUI FLUORITE – a focus, recovered, tired from work, busy, a twin, an actor. Currently Sebastian   
FAI 'D.' FLUORITE – a headache, thought as female by neighbour, a twin, an actor. Currently Viola  
KAREN KASUMI – tireless, concerned director of the theatre troupe  
YUUKO ICHIHARA – friend, witch, tormenter of her nephew and alcohol thief  
KIMIHIRO WATANUKI – nephew of the above, and (intelligent) hider of alcohol  
YOUOU KUROGANE – the new neighbour, student teacher, tall, courteous, grumpy  
KAMUI SHIRO – prone to complaining quite a lot about his dress, an actor. Currently Maria  
FUUMA – no known last name, (boy)friend of the above  
HOKUTO SUMERAGI – dressmaker of the theatre troupe, Subaru's twin, matchmaker  
SUBARU SUMERAGI – Hokuto's twin, an actor, matchmaked. Currently Olivia   
KOHAKU TENOUJI – good singer, gets grief from 'friend' Koryuu, an actor. Currently Feste  
KORYUU 'JIKOKU' – sulky youth, stalker of ~~crush~~ friend Kohaku, an actor. Currently Sir Andrew  
SORATA ARISUGAWA – loud friend, defender of his honey, an actor. Currently Sir Toby   
ARASHI KISHUU – 'honey' of the above, makes no comment on it  
EVERYONE ELSE – currently not relevant enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 **II. _iii._** [ _The living room of the Fluorites' apartment again, almost a week later. It's night again, late on, and the room's full of not-so-sober people, some dangling in from the door to the kitchen, some wandering in and out of the hallway heading to and from the toilet. There are bottles all over all the tables and everyone seems to have forgotten whose drink is whose, grabbing a bottle at random and swigging it as they like. The couch is claimed by a blushing youth, his enthusiastic sister, and his 'boyfriend,' with the sister urging her sibling to give up his inhibitions and the boy growing darker by the second. A young man is snatching alcohol from a lounging woman taking up her own seat, the woman complaining – and picking up another bottle to take a swig. Another young man is getting teased over by the doorway by his older friend, looking to be on the edges of a sulk, another sprawled rather wasted on the floor with twin, black-haired girls snuggling over him. There are others, but they come and go and add to the background hum of human noise.  
It's not a party – but it's not all too far off one, all of them having stumbled in from a night out, having more to drink, more to say, before stumbling home. One of the twins must have invited them all – but neither of them are in too fit a state to remember which of them it was, leaning rather heavily against the wall near the front door and using each other as a support._]

 

"O mistress mine, where are you roaming?" The song rose above the people in the room, a few breaking off their conversations to listen, others carrying on – most had lost count how many times they'd heard it already that night. It was a little lower than usual, a little off-time due to the singer being somewhat inebriated, but Kohaku's voice still sang sweetly, even as he himself couldn't stand up for very long without wobbling straight back down into his seat on the floor.

A whine rose from further along the floor, one pale hand rising to wave from the other side of the coffee table, Koryuu not bothering to sit up and disturb the girls on him to make his complaint. "Kohaku, _shut_ it already."

Kohaku either didn't hear him, or didn't care. "O stay and hear, your true love's coming that -"

 _"Angel."_

"- can sing both high and low. Trip no further, pretty sweeting: Journeys end in lovers meeting, every wise man's son doth kn-"

" _Oi_ – angel, shut it already!"

Kohaku heard _that_ , wobbling to his feet to point an accusing finger at Koryuu – and promptly overbalance, caught by Watanuki, who had refrained from drinking. Yuuko took the opportunity to swipe the bottle her nephew had taken from her and drain it dry, ignoring Watanuki's squawks when he finally noticed. Kamui complained about the noise of Watanuki's flailing over by the door, and his friend, Fuuma – as he'd been introduced – took to teasing him for it, even as Hokuto leapt from encouraging her brother and his (debatable) significant other to get together to defending Kohaku's 'gloriously beautiful voice!' Sorata chimed in to agree with her – and then promptly dived out of the room towards the kitchen, apparently seeing his 'honey' in dire peril of being flirted with by another man. ~~Neither Yuui nor Fai thought it was particularly likely Arashi-chan was going to be doing much flirting with _anyone_ , but conveying that message to Sorata was considered an impossible feat.~~

"Ngh," Fai, over by the doorway with Yuui, dropped his head down onto his brother's shoulder with all his weight behind it, and apparently resisted the call of the floor only by virtue of the fact Yuui's arm was helping to hold him up. "I feel sick."

Yuui rubbed his back soothingly. "Do you need some fresh air?"

"After manoeuvring over that lot," Fai pointed one hand rather weakly to the sprawled people between the two of them and the room's window, "I'll need the toilet bowl."

"This way then," Yuui tugged at his brother and Fai rather sickly followed, Yuui sneaking him out of the front door and into the apartment hallway outside. It was much quieter out there, darker, with the lights off, and Fai gratefully went to the window at the end of the hallway, past Kurogane's rooms, opening it and sticking his head out.

Yuui leaned back against the wall behind him, closing his eyes and letting the night's breeze sweep in and over him, cheeks heated from drink, veins buzzing pleasantly. The sounds from their apartment were heavily muffled by the walls and little distance, the wind and the faint sound of traffic from outside driving their guests firmly from the mind. It was…it was _nice_ , to lean back and relax. Karen had been driving them all hard at the theatre, demanding better and more accurate performances each and every hour, making up for the time lost when members of the cast had been sick. There was little time for peace during the day – and so a large part of the cast had gone out in retaliation, determined to get drunk or delirious, and – and they'd _somehow_ ended up back at his and his brother's apartment – but puzzling that way ~~how, why, and are you _sure_ you didn't invite them~~ internally only headaches lay.

"Yuui," Fai spoke, and Yuui opened his eyes to find his brother had pulled his head back in from outside the window, his hair tousled. His nose was pink from the night's chill and his hands were cold, slipping them around Yuui's neck as he stepped closer, smiling satisfaction when Yuui curled his own hands around Fai's waist, sliding low down his twin's spine. The distant streetlights caught in Fai's hair and eyes, a pale gilding and glow against shadows, and his lips, when Fai finally leaned in, tasted of alcohol – or perhaps Yuui was tasting himself.

He moaned, low in the back of his throat, when Fai slanted his mouth against his, head bumping against the wall behind him as Fai deepened the kiss, pressed into it by those heated lips, cool skin. Yuui knew he'd probably drunk a little too much – not enough to be as bad as some of the people in their apartment, but definitely enough to forget all about them, clutching hard at his brother in the dark hallway just outside, rocking against Fai when Fai slid one knee between his parted legs.

Light.

Golden light spilled out into the hallway, warm and bright and intrusive, chased by a tall shadow stepping out with – with _something_ in hand, the sound of the door loud in the night.

Yuui had never known two people could tear themselves apart from each other so quickly (especially after a good few drinks) – but still, they did it, Fai gone from him so fast the cold _slammed_ into him where his brother had been, lips tingling, mind reeling.

It was probably their movement that caught Kurogane's attention.

Kurogane – Kurogane, of _course_ it was Kurogane, they were outside his home too – stopped one step outside his door, and looked at them, a flicker of surprise skittering across his expression before being carefully closed off. He had a rubbish bag in hand, no doubt preparing to take it to the bins down the corridor, but instead he'd walked out on – _well._

Yuui's cheeks warmed again, aware of what he and Fai must look like on the edge of the light spilling out from Kurogane's apartment, breathing heavy, flushed, lips bruised and eyes cat-bright after having been pushed so closely together before.

Yuui swallowed, searched for his voice. It was rough. "Good evening."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \- Kohaku is singing one of Feste's songs from _Twelfth Night_ , from Act II, scene iii:  
>  _O mistress mine, where are you roaming?  
>  O stay and hear, your true love's coming  
> That can sing both high and low.  
> Trip no further, pretty sweeting:  
> Journeys end in lovers meeting,  
> Every wise man's son doth know._
> 
> What is love? 'Tis not hereafter,  
> Present mirth hath present laughter:  
> What's to come is still unsure.  
> In delay there lies no plenty,  
> Then come kiss me, sweet and twenty:  
> Youth's a stuff will not endure.


	9. Act II, Scene iv.

**Excerpt from a letter written during class to 'Mama,' from Yuui Fluorite (age seven), spellings and punctuation partially amended by recollection and embarrassment:**  
 _……promise we'll be together forever and ever, even if he sometimes eats my dessert when he_ knows _it's mine because he's a_ vacuum _like you said. He let me have an extra turn on the swings when papa was pushing us real high, so I know he's sorry, and I love him very much. He's my best friend._  


* * *

 **Mea Culpa – My Own Fault**  
 _I'm sorry. Yuui, I never meant –  
Please don't yell at Yuui._   


* * *

 

 **II. _iv._** [ _Night, the top floor of an apartment complex. It's dark, the lights switched off to save energy, though one door is open to spill light on the carpeted floor, a man standing on the lintel casting his shadow along with it. He's got a bag of rubbish in one hand, apparently planning to take it down to the bins at the end of the corridor, but has been distracted by the two- obviously_ male _\- twins outside his door, clearly caught together.  
It's quiet, as all three men are waiting for someone else to speak first, though there's the muffled sounds of a party going on in another apartment, the sound of the wind blowing in through the open window at the end of the hallway. Awkwardness hangs in the air._]

 

 _'Idiot,'_ Kurogane's mind helpfully supplied him as he stared down the first blond standing outside his door – and _'idiot'_ when he glanced across, a flicker-flash glance veiled with seeming indifference, to the other blond a few steps away. Two idiots, both alike in dignity, with the same shade of hair, of eyes, of skin, as each other, almost perfect mirrors. _Identical twins._

He'd thought – _fraternal_ –

"Good evening," said one, and the cordial greeting did nothing to still the sudden flare of temper Kurogane could feel welling up within him, defensive embarrassment at being taken for a fool – and shame at himself, for having been made a fool so easily. Maybe it was the dark, or maybe it was stupidity, or maybe it was the defensive posture both of the Fluorites had taken, automatically _against_ him, against the world, but the anger didn't subside as it should've done, sensibly done, didn't melt away after realisation into something they could laugh about right then.

 _They were both male._ Both of his neighbours…they were wearing clinging shirts, having clearly been out on the town for the evening, and their chests and stomachs were tellingly flat. So much stock to place in appearances, but both the twins stood so determinedly in the shadows just beyond the light stretching out from Kurogane's doorways, expressions tinged with guilt. Any curves the one playing at _Fai_ had possessed had been granted by he- _his_ dress, the sashay of his walk.

"Kuro-chan," the other twin started, half-raising his hand as if to reach for Kurogane's arm and offer some sort of explanation – but Kurogane moved the limb away, the bag of rubbish he was holding bumping into his leg.

" _Don't,_ " he said shortly, sharply, and the other man – _Fai,_ that _was_ Fai, wasn't it? He couldn't tell at all – dropped his hand again, falling silent. " _Both_ of you," he continued, still in a snap, seeing the other idiot open his mouth as well, a juggling act between the two of them. Kurogane didn't want to hear it – that – _anything_.

"Don't yell at Yuui!" The other twin flames up immediately, more than alcohol, more than guilt bringing high colour to his cheeks, cold fire in his eyes against his brother's worried sea-blue. "It's not his fault that -"

"That _what?_ " Kurogane challenged, still furious. "You're a liar? Amongst _other_ things." He looked at the other twin – Yuui – as he spoke, dismissively, and the colour shot straight up Yuui's face. Kurogane had seen trysting couples – and more than couples a few times – before. He knew the signs, knew how the ones sober enough to realise leapt apart, still breathless, and Yuui's instant response only confirmed the fact.

Fai's expression was cold. Had it been for any other reason, Kurogane would've been quite glad to see the blank smile wiped off the idiot's face. "That's none of your business."

"You're outside _my_ door."

Fai snatched at his brother's wrist at the proclamation, yanking Yuui forward a metre or so away from the hallway's window, towards their own apartment. The movement took them through the light from Kurogane's apartment and Kurogane thought, stupidly, _lightning_ as the light gleamed off their gold hair for a brief flash –

"And now we're not." Fai – Fai, it had to be Fai, even though this was the one with the voice that could be a woman's, who sang and chattered like a bird, and who had bounced as _he_ had swished along in his skirt – had never sounded so _poisonous_ , still clutching at his twin as though afraid Yuui was going to be torn from him. By _Kurogane._

And Kurogane felt like he'd been slapped all over again.

 _"Get the hell out of my face."_

Fai glared at that, but his brother reached up and covered his mouth with one hand before he could reply. Yuui, still held so tightly by his twin, looked back over his shoulder at Kurogane, and though his cheeks were still flushed, his expression was terribly sad.

It shouldn't have been possible for Kurogane to feel worse than he already did right then. Yuui's expression in that moment somehow managed to achieve the impossible.

"We apologise for interrupting your evening, Kurogane-san." Fai jolted at his brother's words, apparently trying to pull Yuui's hand away from his mouth, but Yuui kept it firmly in place, continuing on. "We won't trouble you again."

Yuui kept his brother silent as he dragged Fai back inside their own apartment, and when their door clicked shut behind them Kurogane stood in the empty hallway, alone, in the quiet.

The wind blowing in through the open window was cold.


	10. Act II, Scene v.

**Deus Ex Machina – God Out of the Machine**  
Most people called her 'Yuuko Ichihara,' or just 'Yuuko.' Watanuki called her 'aunt' and 'slave-driver.' Kurogane called her 'witch,' and Fai and Yuui could call her anything they liked, because she _liked_ them. Yuuko just called for more alcohol, and went back to sneakily running the lives of everyone around her. (Kurogane, with his naming of her, was probably the closet to the mark. There was a power in names, after all.)  


* * *

 

 **II. _v._** [ _A few days later, at the theatre in the late morning, just before noon. It's busy everywhere again – especially backstage, with seemingly a hundred and one conversations going on all at once. To the side, out of the main thrust of people, a slim man in Elizabethan-wear is standing, pensively weighing the mobile phone in his hand, blond hair loose out over his shoulders. He looks bothered by something._ ]

 

Of all things to forget, and of the days to forget them, Yuui just _had_ to have forgotten to pick up his brother's doublet after promising Fai he'd grab it, on the one day Karen decided she wanted her main actors performing in full costume. Yuui knew exactly where it was too – neatly folded on the front desk in the foyer of their apartment complex, still tied up with the red ribbon Tomoyo had given it to Sakura with, no doubt staring a bemused Souma in the face. He'd put it down to sort through the mail Souma had handed him on his way out to the theatre earlier that morning (Fai had, once more, gone ahead), and walked out of the building without picking it up again.

Yuui groaned, and let his head thump back against the wall behind him in his frustration. Fai had had his hands full with a thousand other little things; Yuui should've been able to manage one _doublet._ Especially after Tomoyo had took the pains to get it fixed up so quickly, sending it over to the Fluorites' apartment with a cheerful Sakura, knowing she herself would be busy working at home on some of the other costumes for the following few days. Sakura had been so bright about it, chattering with him as they'd set about baking together – she'd seen some tarts she thought she'd like to try making, but she didn't want to pester Watanuki-kun because they looked so _simple_ , but somehow she'd managed to go wrong when she'd tried them by herself, so if Yuui-san didn't mind-?

Yuui hadn't minded. At all. But he'd forgotten the doublet she'd brought over, and he'd tried calling Souma to let the doorwoman know that the package on her desk was his, but she'd been busy when he'd called, distracted, and her hasty _'don't worry'_ hadn't stopped him worrying at all. Soon people would be breaking for lunch – and Fai and Karen would want to know where Fai's costume was. He'd tried to sneak off home twice already to fetch it, but Karen had grabbed him both times – setting him to practice his scenes with Yuuto the first time, and getting him into his own costume the second. ~~He couldn't go home in tights, doublet and hose. _Really._~~

"Yuui-san?" Yuui heard Sakura before he saw her, the girl weaving in and out (and over) the people backstage, green eyes scanning the crowd as she called out. When she saw Yuui her face broke out into a smile. "Yuui-san!" He smiled back at her, but before he could speak she had already dashed off back the way she'd come from with a quick, "stay there please!"

Yuui stayed where he was, bemused – and felt the last of his smile slip away from his face as Sakura returned his way, a familiar – _intruding_ – figure at her side giving the troupe members wary looks as they ran past in partial costume carrying props or reciting odd lines. _Kurogane._ What was he-?

"Here he is," Sakura was pleasantly oblivious in the face of Kurogane's obvious awkwardness, smiling up at the student teacher with beautiful openness and gesturing to Yuui. "Yuui-san," she turned back to look at the actor, "Kurogane-san here brought a package for you. He said he was your neighbour, so I thought it would be alright if I brought him in…?"

Yuui forced his smile back for the girl. "It's alright; thank you for your efforts, Sakura-chan." She smiled once more at him before disappearing and Yuui reluctantly turned his attention towards the waiting Kurogane –

Only to have a familiar ribbon-wrapped bundle all but thrust in his face.

"The doorwoman and the witch said this was yours." Kurogane was blunt.

So that was Souma and – "Yuuko-san?" Yuui ventured, curious as to how either of the women had gotten Kurogane to deliver the – oh, the _doublet._ Yuui all but hugged the shirt to his chest.

"The witch," Kurogane confirmed, face twisting into a scowl – but thankfully, Yuui noted, focused on the distance, and not he himself. It had been a few days, perhaps, and some of the troupe were still talking about their hangovers from their night out, but the memory of Kurogane's red eyes narrowed in the dark hallway outside his apartment had yet to fade.

"…Thank you," Yuui offered quietly, drawing Kurogane's attention back to him. "For delivering this." He nodded down at the doublet he was holding. "You probably went out of your way." _Quite_ a way – both Yuui and Fai had been all but outright avoiding their dark neighbour; Souma had passed comment on it, as well as a few of the other inhabitants of the apartment complex. ~~It was almost _quiet_ there again, and Yuui had been asked five times whether Fai was feeling sick.~~

"The library where I work's not so far from here," Kurogane said in explanation, awkward once more, looking off at anything but Yuui. ~~'Anything' was rather diverting, anyway – Hokuto appeared to be attempting to leap on Kyle not so far away for 'daring to flirt with _my_ Subaru!' while her blushing brother and a pissed-off-looking Kamui, both in their full costume save shoes and wigs, held her back, Kyle prissily insisting that anything and everything he said had been in the script. Koryuu and Sorata were sitting nearby, perfectly unhelpful.~~ Kurogane didn't make any motions towards the exit, however.

Yuui waited, patient. But when Kurogane still said nothing ("Hokuto, you're going to tear the lace – _he's not worth the lace!!"_ ) Yuui prompted him, "Was there something else you wanted?"

Kurogane opened his mouth –

 _"SUBARU, YOUR_ DRESS!!"

Yuui winced at Hokuto's shriek, before carefully taking Kurogane's sleeve and pulling the man ~~theatre newbie~~ away from the carnage ensuing behind them, looking for somewhere quiet ~~er~~. Kurogane kept looking at it even as he was pulled away – Koryuu's laughter was a dead giveaway that whatever was happening was a chaotic bloodbath of some sort -, but staying too close to the scene of the crime would invariably mean helping to clear up the mess _afterwards_ , as soon as Karen got wind of it.

Ironically, the wing closest to the stage was the quietest place Yuui could find. Even though people still passed by there was a pocket of muted noise in the wings, all the troupe members having learned to stay quiet in those areas, to avoid disturbing the people out on the stage. Ashura and Fai were alone out there at that moment in time, 'Viola' declaring love to the oblivious Duke. They made a pretty picture together, both of them. They always had done.

"Now," Yuui tried again, looking up at Kurogane, drawing comfort from Fai's fluting tones close by, Ashura's voice right behind his twin's. His stomach still felt uncomfortable though, and he instinctively held Fai's doublet a little closer to himself. The lighting in the wings was deliberately dim, and Kurogane was all in shadow. "What was it that you wanted?"


	11. Act III, Scene i.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Kurogane, version 3)**  
YOUOU KUROGANE – regular guy, student teacher, unwilling errand-boy, victim in all this  
SOUMA HIME – doorwoman, keeper of secrets/wearer of more secret smiles, conspires with the witch  
FAI FLUORITE – neighbour, liar, posed as a woman, actor, twin/lover of the _other_ one  
YUUI FLUORITE – neighbour, conspirator to the above, actor, twin/lover of the _other_ one  
YUUKO ICHIHARA – unfair, gloating insane landlady to be avoided at all costs, witch  
EVERYONE ELSE – not important enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 **III. _i._** [ _Backstage at the theatre, in one of the immediate wings at the side of the stage. The lighting is dim but two figures can be made out: one is tall and all dressed in black, standing in the shadow with his arms folded across his chest. His companion is also tall, though slighter than the first, dressed in Elizabethan-wear, gold hair catching the lights shining in from the stage to their left. Out there are two more men – actors, going through a scene together, seemingly oblivious to the conversation in the wings._ ]

 

Everyone who worked in the theatre was completely mad. Kurogane had been avoiding chaos the moment he'd gotten into the building – he hadn't even wanted to enter in fact, keen to pass off the parcel he'd been _made_ to carry ~~Yuuko had left a threat with Souma for him – how the hell did that witch even know the poncy shirt belonged to one of the Fluorites, anyway? – he delivered the parcel, or his rent went up~~ to the one who'd introduced herself as Sakura, but the girl had disappeared to fetch Yuui before he'd had the chance. He'd ended up following her when she came back for him, side-stepping pandemonium and watching as various members of the theatre troupe bedecked in various frilly items of clothing tried to kill each other while some of their companions did nothing but sit back and watched –

He was actually deeply glad when Yuui led him away from the catfight going on backstage – there were stranger things in the theatre than were dreamt of in any sane man's philosophy, and Kurogane didn't particularly want to think about any of them too deeply ~~, as morbidly riveting as some of them were~~. It was probably suicidal, somehow.

"What was it that you wanted?" Yuui stood in the slant of light that came in from the stage to Kurogane's left, the glow catching the side of the blond's face and loose hair, softening his expression. The end effect was – _probably_ unintentionally – disarming, rather ~~painfully~~ like being suddenly presented with a Sakura out of nowhere. Or the troupe's Sakura, anyway. ~~The girl was with the troupe, right?~~

Kurogane…didn't actually have anything he'd _wanted_ to say. It had been quite obvious both of his neighbours were avoiding him since that night in the hallway (the programmer girl didn't count as a neighbour yet – he'd never met her), and he hadn't exactly gone out of his way to try and see them either. ~~And that was _not_ the same as 'hiding in his room,' no matter what his mother occasionally sighed at him.~~ Hurt, defensiveness, anger – Kurogane had meant everything he'd said at the time he said it; he always did. But meant it _permanently…?_

Yuui was holding tightly to the doublet Kurogane had given him, a shield on his chest between the two of them, one crushed white shirt against Yuui's historical black ensemble. Kurogane didn't know enough of history or literature or geography or _whatever_ to really identify the get-up – he didn't particularly care to, either -, but again, it was a divider – mentally as well as physically.

"…I don't know you." Yuui blinked at Kurogane's assertion – but it was true, wasn't it? He'd always met Fai – or _thought_ he'd met Fai; they'd never really had the chance to clarify if he'd seen Yuui more than once -, and so had only shaped ideas about _that_ twin. "Do I?"

"…I was the one who invited you over for dinner." Yuui seemed to understand the question – he'd probably been mistaken for his brother far too many times before – and answered it evenly, slightly warily. "In the hallway that time."

 _Another_ time. Kurogane could recall quiet, polite conversation, and a distinct lack of glitter. He'd actually hoped Fai had been sane then – really, he should've figured out that the 'woman' had an identical twin brother by Yuui's sanity alone.

Fai's voice drifted through to the two men in the wings – and they turned slightly, to see the stage, when Fai started laughing, apparently having stared too intently into his 'beloved's' eyes for a second too long and completely lost the thread of his seriousness as a result. Ashura too, as the Duke, was laughing, being used as a prop to hold his still-laughing companion upright, and the director's exasperated murmurs could _just_ be heard from the stalls.

"Doesn't it bother you?"

"What?" Yuui asked, apparently bemused at the sudden question. "Acting? Or -" he frowned slightly, listening to what Fai and Ashura were saying out on the stage, "Do you mean _Fai_ acting?"

Kurogane looked at him – he was unsurprised to see Yuui glancing back at him from the corner of one eye, blue gleaming where the stage lights reflected off of the hue.

"Or," Yuui continued, a little more quietly than before, "did you mean Fai acting a love scene?" Kurogane tried not to look too awkward. "They're just lines, Kurogane-san, and Ashura is a good friend of ours."

"Still -"

"Still _nothing_." The words weren't a snap, but they echoed with enough finality for Kurogane to abruptly close his mouth, hearing the underlying frost crackle beneath Yuui's pleasant smile. The man had a shutterglass expression just like his twin, his chin tipped up defiantly, every inch a brother assuredly in support of their sibling, Yuui and Sebastian both.

 _Go no further._

And so Kurogane hastily back-pedalled, aware that he'd managed to intrinsically (yet again) piss off one of the Fluorite twins and thus call down the arctic wrath of both on his head, and didn't want to leave it at that. Not on such a sour note – he'd wasted his breath and his hurting ego on the conversation already, after all.

"…Whatever it is you and your brother do," Kurogane offered, looking to the side, away from the actor before him and trying to focus on the two on the stage instead, bright under the lights, or the chaos still going on elsewhere backstage – _anywhere_ but at the man he was talking to. "It's none of my business; I don't care about it."

He chanced a glance – just a small one – at Yuui's face, and found himself fumbling again, taken aback by how the chillingly pleasant frost had settled over almost the entirety of the blond's expression. ~~That was the sort of look teachers reserved for the overly-defensive and equally-as-irritating parents of the children they'd just _love_ to throttle.~~ Clearly, they were somehow misunderstanding each other. Still.

"That is -" Kurogane found himself mumbling.

And Yuui just looked at him blankly. "…What?"

" – So you still owe me dinner."

 _"…What?"_

It was a hopeful sign that Yuui sounded more confused than incredulous, wasn't it?

"You. And your idiot brother." Kurogane cleared his throat, and drew himself up to his full height as an automatic defensive reaction against the slight burning he could feel on the tips of his ears, the back of his neck – and then slouched down again, noting he was already a head taller than either of the Fluorite twins, and towering over one of them probably wasn't going to help them, to use the hideously clichéd expression the chairman of the school Kurogane was doing his training at was so fond of using, see _eye-to-eye._

Yuui continued to look at him like Kurogane was mad. It didn't help Kurogane's self-confidence in any way, shape or form. ~~The conversation had long since gone to hell.~~ "…What about us?"  
"You still owe me dinner."

"…And you'd want to _eat_ it?"

"I don't want to _wear_ it," Kurogane sniped – and was simultaneously pleased and mortified when his companion smiled – _properly_ – at his grouching. Pleased, because it was better than the frost of before. Mortified, because Kurogane could feel the red slinking into his cheeks by that point, and Yuui's smile was beginning to show just an inkling of a little too _much_ understanding for Kurogane's comfort.

"…Alright," Yuui said eventually, still wearing that _stupid_ look on his face. Kurogane went back to staring at the actors on stage – only to realise Fai was wearing an eerily similar stupid expression as he said his lines, and so looked away again just as quickly, and consigned himself to very intently studying the wall. ~~His whole _face_ was red.~~ "I'll see what I can arrange."

Kurogane just grunted in reply. He fled the theatre shortly afterwards.


	12. Act III, Scene ii.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Fai, version 3)**  
FAI D. FLUORITE – a protagonist, a brother and lover and friend and actor. Currently Viola  
YUUI FLUORITE – a protagonist, dearly loved and doted on, an actor. Currently Sebastian   
ASHURA OU – old, dear friend of the Fluorite twins, an actor. Currently Duke Orsino   
YOUOU KUROGANE – new neighbour, student teacher, foul-tempered, judgemental, rude  
EVERYONE ELSE – presently nowhere near important enough to get their own marker.  


* * *

 

 **III. _ii._** [ _The Fluorites' apartment again, just inside the – open – front door. As it's early evening the lights overhead have been switched on to dispel the shadows lengthening on the floor, but the curtains at the windows remain undrawn – neither of the apartment's two occupants have gotten more than four steps inside to pull them closed, too occupied with kissing each other, their bags dropped to the floor beside their feet._ ]

 

It wasn't that Fai _minded_ being suddenly pushed up against the wall as soon as they got home to their apartment and kissed senseless by his twin – quite the opposite in fact; ravishment, however abruptly sprung into action, was to be condoned and actively _encouraged_ at every possible opportunity – but usually – _always_ – Yuui at least remembered to _shut the front door first._ Was almost anally-retentive about the action, even, having thwarted many of his brother's molestations in the past by pushing Fai away until the front door was closed and the rest of the world was safely shut out. But today –

 ~~Yuui was strange today.~~

"Yuui," Fai tried to steal breath between his brother's hard kisses, tried to laugh and inquire what it was that had Yuui so worked up – but his mouth was sealed with fervent lips before he could get the words out, Yuui's tongue in his mouth, one of Yuui's hands threaded tightly in the hair at the nape of his neck, pulling sharp-sweet to angle Fai into the kiss as Fai pressed back into it with a moan.

Quick hands made light work of Fai's shirt, yanking it abruptly over his head and leaving parts of his hair sticking up, dropping the cloth to the floor. Hot kisses were mouthed against his collarbone as nails dragged down his back and side, over the soft skin of his belly and – oh, _screw_ the door. Yuui was kissing him again, wild and fierce and wanting, and Fai _loved_ the sting of it because Yuui snapped so very rarely and was always so beautiful when he did. Hair stuck to their faces and in the back of his mind Fai was mildly aware of the fact that he'd been trying to work his brother's pants down – but somewhere around getting Yuui's belt undone and dropping the leather to the floor he'd gotten hopelessly sidetracked, giving up and shoving his hands down the back of Yuui's pants, pulling his twin against him more firmly and grinding their hips together.

Fai groaned – or maybe it was both of them – shuddering at the hard rub of the leg between his, the press of Yuui's hipbone and thigh, hard and harsh and moving just _there_ so that he gave up caring if he was loud, if the sound of his voice echoed down the hallway outside, and breathed, the cotton of Yuui's shirt chafing against his bare chest, Yuui panting into the crook of his neck as he ground against him, pushing into him until Fai's shoulder-blades hit the wall. It was the only thing holding them both up.

Yuui murmured breathless nonsense into Fai's throat and Fai came, gasping, sticky wetness spreading through his pants as he instinctively clutched at Yuui more tightly, holding his twin as Yuui rode through his own orgasm before sinking heavily against him.

Their breathing was loud.

"Mm…" Fai nuzzled his brother's cheek, pressing a smiling kiss under Yuui's ear. Yuui's chest moved against his own – in out, in out, with a sweet slight hitch in the pattern when Fai spun a curl of his brother's gold hair around one finger, brushing butterfly-light against the nape of Yuui's neck. "Yuui got us all dirty."

"Just me?" Yuui asked, and Fai laughed at his part-amused, part-wrinkled expression, releasing his twin's hair and smoothing both hands down the smooth planes of Yuui's back, reaching for the hem of his brother's shirt.

"You may have had a _little_ bit of assistance…" Yuui snorted and Fai abruptly pulled his twin's shirt off, smirking when the snort turned, mid-way, into a splutter – and then died down altogether as Fai held the clothing in his hands, Yuui's expression tilting into a frown. "What is it?"

Yuui turned, and looked over his shoulder. Very flatly: "…The door's open."

"Yes," Fai cheerfully replied, and tossed his brother's shirt, "And?"

Yuui groaned something at him and went to shut the door. Fai winced, seeing how the fabric of Yuui's trousers clung to him as he moved – and was very pointedly reminded of his own pants, uncomfortably moulding themselves to his hips and the top of his thighs like a clammy second skin. So, he quickly dropped them and his underwear beneath, and was rewarded with a sweep of scarlet rising to stain Yuui's face and neck when he turned around again to see Fai standing there clad in nothing but socks. ~~Making Yuui blush had always been a fondness of his, ever since they'd been small.~~

"Fai, the curtains are still open as well."

Fai shrugged – and sighed as Yuui breezed past him again to draw the offending drapes shut. "So anyone looking in got a free peepshow."

Yuui made a brief, short sound, exasperated, distressed, maybe even annoyed, so Fai stepped out of the last of his clothing and curled around his twin from behind, dropping feather kisses to Yuui's shoulder. He was languid, lazy after orgasm and happy to drape against warm, soft skin, but there was a tenseness across the breadth of Yuui's back that made Fai pause in his actions, drop his voice to a gentle murmur. "Yuui, what's wrong?"

In out, in out, in out – Fai could hear his brother's heartbeat and he shifted, curious to see Yuui's face.

Such a _solemn_ expression-! There was a serious, thoughtful cast to Yuui's face that Fai stared at, honestly perplexed – only for Yuui to meet and hold his gaze for a few seconds, breaking out into a wonderful smile, evening sunshine through the clouds.

"Yuui…" Fai started – and then stopped, unsure of what to say.

"Fai," Yuui echoed him, and raised a hand to stroke along Fai's jaw, still smiling, serene. "Why don't we take a bath?"

Fai blinked at him – once, twice – but nodded, consenting to be pulled along by the wrist to their bathroom, firmly led.

 ~~Yuui was strange today.~~


	13. Act III, Scene iii.

**Dramatis Personae (According to Yuui, version 3)**  
YUUI FLUORITE – tired, busy, trying to broker peace, a twin, an actor. Currently Sebastian   
FAI 'D.' FLUORITE – _still_ a headache, not very peaceful, a twin, an actor. Currently Viola  
YOUOU KUROGANE – neighbour, somehow managing to cause arguments even in his absence  
KAMUI SHIRO – easily riled with people related in any way to Subaru, an actor. Currently Maria  
SUBARU SUMERAGI – Hokuto's twin, embarrassed, sweet, an actor. Currently Olivia   
SEISHIROU SAKURAZUKA – apparent significant other of the above, pain-in-the-neck  
HOKUTO SUMERAGI – dressmaker, Subaru's twin, matchmaker, pain-in-the-neck no. two  
EVERYONE ELSE – currently not relevant enough to get their own marker  


* * *

 

 **III. _iii._** [ _Opening night at the theatre, backstage, twenty minutes before the performance is due to begin. Everyone is busy, and the cast and crew are as noisy as they dare to be with the audience filing in to the auditorium outside. Through it all a hissed conversation could be heard, and looking closely two young men can be seen, both in various states of female dress. One of them is upset about something, and keeps gesticulating towards the dressing room behind them, while his partner tries to placate them. Heading towards them both is a blond, in black doublet and pants, bearing a large teddy-bear in his arms._ ]

 

"I'm going to _kill_ him."

For someone so ~~\- arguably, admittedly, obviously-but-heaven-forbid-anyone-tell- _him_ -that –~~ small, Shirou Kamui had rather a loud voice, particularly evident when he was spitting mad with _certain individuals_ who it was really safest not to name in his presence.

"Tear the bastard into little pieces and then feed what's left to the crocodiles in the _zoo_ -"

"K-Kamui-san…"

Yuui only raised an eyebrow when he came across the scene outside the dressing room that had been assigned to Kamui and Sumeragi Subaru – Kamui throwing a dignified strop of some sort was nothing new, but usually his death threats weren't _quite_ so eloquent. Subaru watched him despairingly, almost fully attired in his costume save for his wig. Kamui hadn't even gotten that far; the laces on the back of his dress trailed loosely, and he was wearing his normal shoes under the sweep of the hem.

"You're supposed to wait until _after_ the performance before dumping flowers on people!!"

"Kamui-san -"

"I'll wring his _neck_ – who the hell needs a _roomful of flowers?!_ "

"Yuui-san!" Subaru looked deeply relieved to have some sort of distraction from Kamui's rant, brightening at the approach of the older male.

"Subaru-kun," Yuui smiled back at him, before switching his attentions to Kamui, handing the youth the silky black bear he'd been carrying. "I was told to give this to you – someone left it for you at the front door."

" – Eh?" Kamui stopped mid-stomp, his arms suddenly full of plush. He glanced down at the note attached to the purple ribbon around its neck – and then blushed, vividly, hastily disappearing back into his dressing room without another word.

Subaru breathed a sigh of relief – and then blushed pink as well, when Yuui smiled knowingly at him. Subaru was too sweet for his own good. "A-ah -"

"Do you need a hand with your wig?"

"If it's no trouble…" Subaru ducked his head as Yuui began gently shifting his hair into place, pulling the net over the youth's short black hair before carefully fixing the wig on top. Long, heavy curls of black hung around Subaru's face, trailing to just below his shoulders. Somebody else could sweep them up into the filigree hair-net that went with the costume, Olivia's outfit; Yuui had never been able to get the hang of getting nets to stay in. "Is Fai-san ready?"

"I don't know." Subaru looked up at Yuui inquiringly. "I don't think he's terribly happy with me."

"Why would he be mad?"

Yuui smiled at him, vaguely rueful. "I invited someone tonight he thinks I shouldn't have done."

"Oh…" Subaru thought quietly for a few moments – and then reached out suddenly, and took Yuui's hands. Yuui blinked at him, but Subaru's green eyes were determined. "Yuui-san…since you invited them…you must really want them here, right? Fai-san…Fai-san should be able to understand that, definitely. Because he loves you very much I'm sure he'll understand your feelings – he won't stay mad for long."

"Subaru, are you proposing again?" Red _flared_ up Subaru's cheeks as a new voice joined the discussion, a pale arm wrapping itself around the boy's neck in a loose hug.

"H-Hokuto -"

"Because _really_ ," Hokuto continued, as Subaru hastily dropped Yuui's hands and tried not to blush to death, "you should be saving that for the stage. What on earth will I tell Sei-chan if his bride runs off with another man before the show?"

"I'm really not -"

" _And_ I heard he sent you flowers!" Hokuto ignored her brother's mumble of 'everyone heard' ~~Kamui hadn't been exactly _quiet_ in his strop of before~~.

"Sakurazuka-san sent you flowers?" Yuui asked, amused when Subaru turned redder still. "Is that what Kamui-kun was talking about-?"

"They didn't notice him having a nap in the corner," Subaru explained, and ducked his head to let his fake curls hide his flush somewhat. "So when they brought them all in, he got some flowers dumped on his head."

 _Ah._

"What kind of flowers?" Hokuto was insatiable.

"Roses -"

Hokuto ' _eee_ 'd and dived off for her brother's dressing room, not even bothering to knock before barging inside. Kamui was, of course, busy getting dressed in there, and his spluttering yells were almost as funny as Subaru trying to hide behind the doorpost in embarrassment.

The room was _full_ of roses, all in red and white, heaped on every surface in heavy bouquets, and on stands in even heavier sprays. ~~No kill like overkill, apparently.~~

And in the middle Hokuto stood, triumphant. "Sei-kun's love is never to be outdone!!"

Kamui was unimpressed, almost as red as Subaru, clutching vainly at his clothes to cover his bare chest. "Get _out_ , you crazy woman!!"

Hokuto ignored him. "Red and white roses are for unity in love -"

" _Out!!_ "

"And for being together forevermore!"

Yuui had always been taught red and white flowers together meant _blood._

"Hokuto," Subaru stepped forth as the noble martyr and grabbed his sister's wrist, pulling the young woman out of the dressing room before Kamui started throwing things in his embarrassment, "could you help me with my hair?"

Mindful of Kamui's ' _hiss_ ' Yuui quickly followed, and closed the door behind him.

Opening night was always fun.


End file.
